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The Aerospace Design/Build/Fly club at the Georgia Institute of Technology is focused on teaching students the fundamentals of aircraft and flight through the design and building of model airplanes. Founded in 2009, the club participates in international competitions such as AIAA Design-Build-Fly, from which the club takes it's name, and SAE Aerodesign. These competitions provide an exciting and challenging framework for the students to apply their classroom knowledge and learn critical hands-on lessons to take with them into the job market. As the club grows, members are always expanding into new projects.

Last weekend a group of Georgia Tech students traveled to Lakeland, FL, to participate in the 2015 Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Aero Design East competition. Students from 75 teams from the U.S. and across the world were challenged to design and build remote controlled aircraft to varying requirements across three different vehicle classes, while documenting their results in a design report and presentation. Georgia Tech participated in two of the three classes.

As part of a grant awarded to our parent organization, the Aerospace Systems Design Lab, we now have direct access to an Epilog 36EXT laser cutter! Prior to this we utilized the equipment over at the Invention Studio, but with our growing numbers and desire to participate in more competitions, we needed full-time access. As expected, the faster turn-around time will allow for faster iteration of designs, and hopefully more time to participate in more competitions.

On March 15-17, 2013, a group of Georgia Tech students were victorious in the micro class of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Aero Design East competition for the second year in a row. The Aero Design competition challenges students to design, build and fly a remote controlled airplane to meet a set of requirements that change from year-to-year for three different classes: micro, regular and advanced. There were 75 teams at the competition, held in Fort Worth, TX, from throughout the world, including 23 teams in the micro class.